David Sinclair departed Caravan and Steve Miller arrived. If that was a reason this album ditches a lot of the nice, folksy pop songs of 'In The Land Of...' to replace them with long, jam based tunes - then that was a line-up change to be regretted! The playing remains exemplary, but there are few actual songs here. The opening title track is a case in point. I'm not going to be harsh or anything, because this does still contain melody amid the many instrumental parts and solo parts that are always impressively played - but there is something a little soulless about this.
The second track just really continues from the first, but is ever more jam based, sounds like it wasn't so much written as made up from hours of improvisation. It doesn't sound like a song, lacks a central theme or melody but does contain lots of great playing. It's not bad, don't get me wrong. It's actually fairly enjoyable but it lacks a certain character and distinctiveness. 'Songs And Signs' is better from a writing point of view. It's less than four minutes long, opens with very quiet, mellow vocals and a fairly bare musical backing. But, an atmosphere is created. It's not song packed with thrills or melody but it does withstand repeated listening, and actually gains from such listening.
'Aristocracy' is a nice little piece of funky playing and in fact, would have made a great album opener! It would have indicated a change of style and/or pace but not alienated fans of the groups previous records. 'The Love In Your Eye' suite is twelve minutes long. It opens with some nice string parts around a very quiet and mellow vocal. The bass comes in, the drums - the song picks up pace whilst remaining nicely mellow. The strings add to the track rather than become an unnecessary embellishment, and this is enjoyable listening. It does descend slightly towards a mindless Jam to close, but never mind that for now.
'The World Is Yours' wraps up the album, and actually becomes a highlight of the entire record for me. This is a lot simpler in structure than much else of what's contained on the album, has a nice melody and comes across as charming within well played instrumental parts rather than relying on well played instrumental parts to carry the track alone. We need melody in this world, and 'The World Is Yours' has plenty of it! A nice enough album on the whole, this 'Waterloo Lily' - there is nothing really bad here, but equally so few genuine highlights. The quality of the playing earns it an extra half point to bring it above being disposable.

David Sinclair's departure changed dramatically their sound but this is still great. Pye Hastings wrote most of the numbers which is also a change compared to the previous one when he wrote just one. Of course , the Love in Your Eyes is the highlight here but the Canterbury-suite on the first side is quite good also albeit quite unusual sounding for them but this goes on to show the jazz inclinations of Caravan . The rest of the stuff is more acoustic and poppish but still in the Caravan mould. The remaster of this one holds another real unreleased (no bottom of drawer tape) track called Looking Left , Looking Right that fits quite well with the rest of the album.

Sean Trane

"Waterloo Lily" was the last album which really captured in its entirety their classic 70's early sound. This album has it all... great musicianship, excellent vocals and highly developed songs. CARAVAN were exceptionally influential in helping define the Canterbury sound with their involved jazz-rock sequences and wonderful instrumentation. "Waterloo Lily" may be their most progressive effort in pure definition with some wonderfully inventive aspects clearly giving the listener the feeling of musical exploration. This album is full of wide mood and tempo swings with some quiet parts and then leaping into full jazz inspired prog rock. There is no question that the combination of Hastings, Sinclair and Coughlan were a wicked musical combination. "Waterloo Lily" is a highly recommended album offering some of CARAVAN's best work ever!

James Unger

OK...hail to the rebel of Caravan albums! Most people share disappointment with Waterloo Lily, for me an absolute gem.Nothing at All and The Love in your Eye prove the mature contribution these guys could produce and the articulate approach to more sophisticated Prog/Jazz that had developed. Forget turmoil within the band and new line ups they were entering forbidden territory and couldn't give a [&*!#]. The music proves it.

Chris S.

Waterloo Lily is Caravan's most overlooked release from their golden age, and is one of their best albums. This album came after David Sinclair's departure, and Steve Miller fills in on Keyboards. Caravan moves in a more straightforward jazz-rock direction on this album, compared to the whimsical Canterbury of past releases. However, there is enough great composition and humor to justify the Caravan name. This album also shows just how well Caravan was able to balance relatively simple pop tunes with complex prog workouts in harmony. It has all of Caravan's past musical features, such as Pye Hastings fluid (but subdued) guitar work, jazzy piano, complex bass lines and a high degree of improvisation. It is also this album where Pye Hastings first assumes his role as band leader, and does it in dramatic fashion with several excellent compositions.
The album kicks off with Richard Sinclair's playful "Waterloo Lily", an excellent track which aptly displays Caravan's lyrical cleverness and jazz oriented rock skills. This song is one of Caravan (of any period's) best, and Richard Sinclair's smooth vocal delivery is flawless. The next track, a suite, "Nothing at all /It's coming soon / Nothing at all (reprise)" is rather tepid fusion, which prominently features Steve Millers piano. The song has some good moments sprinkled throughout its 10 minute duration, but is rather bland and sparse, without direction. After that comes the Steve Miller pop song, "Songs and Signs". This is a relatively boring song, but it is performed well, and is a cut above most pop.
Side Two features a much more traditional Caravan sound. Pye Hastings "Aristocracy" comes first, a song which hasn't dated at all in thirty years. Driven by punchy guitar and a solid melody, this track is seriously catchy and has very good lyrics. The real album highlight comes on Pye Hastings fantastic suite "The Love in Your Eye". This is an all time Caravan highlight, and a concert staple, and shows Caravan at their most symphonic. It features Jimmy Hastings amazing flute work, a string arrangement in the beginning by Colin Fretcher (which adds a real grand sound) and guest musicians on oboe, tenor sax, soprano sax, and trumpet. This is probably Pye Hastings greatest contribution to Caravan's repertoire. The band exchanges solos in this highly structured and never boring piece which runs twelve-and-a-half minutes. Each member is given adequate room to shine, notable Pye Hastings' ultra-smooth electric guitar and Steve Miller's jazzy electric piano. The album closes with one of Caravan's best pop songs, "The World is Yours" by Pye Hastings. Suprisingly this was never released as a single, as it is super catchy and really is a beautiful track.
Waterloo Lily marks Caravan's jazziest point, and it is a success, minus a few boring patches of "Nothing at All". Pye Hastings is really given a chance to shine, and seizes on it. Many Caravan purists dislike this release as too jazzy, and as a step away from their roots, but this is really their last traditional album. 1973's "For Girls Who Grow Plump." is a bigger break with Canterbury than this. After Waterloo Lily, Richard Sinclair left, and that is the real turning point in Caravan. Anyways, I ramble. This album is a solid 3.5-4 stars, recommended to any fan of Canterbury music or Jazz-rock.

NetsNJFan

Well the music critics sometimes (also recently), have criticized this work, because They regarded it as an unnatural or a bit forced l.p.: partially it's true, but their more jazzy breaks-through are interesting in a few circumstances and represented by the pretty cover picture of the album as well, while in other moments their jazz rock passages are less convincing (in comparison for instance to "Third" by Soft Machine), being anyway quite original. Therefore, even though the style of "In the Land of." is far away from here, the arrangement is more accurate in comparison to their long jam-session of their most successful album, at least. for me that's enough to distinguish this work among several other ones inside the school of Canterbury, but it's much inferior than for instance the small masterpieces of Hatfield and the North or the best works by Soft Machine. So as for this consideration only you could change idea about it. listen to this album carefully and make your own choice at the end!!

Lorenzo

I'm a bit in two minds about this album. It is undeniably different from its glorious predecessor, "In the Land of Grey and Pink", and the first listen was (to put it mildly) a disappointment. Then, after repeated listens, it's beginning to grow on me, though it will probably never become a real favourite in the way Caravan's second and third albums are.
Keyboardist David Sinclair had left the band after ITLOGP to join Robert Wyatt's Matching Mole, and was replaced by the more jazz-oriented Steve Miller (brother of guitarist Phil Miller, of Hatfield and the North and National Health fame). Miller's influence shows very clearly, especially in compositions such as the three-part instrumental suite "Nothing at All". However, most of the tracks of the album bear the imprint of guitarist Pye Hastings, who is also responsible for the bulk of the vocal duties. This is probably the aspect of "Waterloo Lily" I like the least: Hastings is far from being a bad vocalist, but I find his Robert-Wyatt- lite vocal style somehow irritating, especially when he reaches for the higher notes. The golden voice of Richard Sinclair has way too little space here; the title-track, while a good song, is not as representative of his considerable skills as, say, "Winter Wine" or even "Hello Hello". Sinclair's presence as a bassist, however, can be felt quite keenly on this album: the above-mentioned "Nothing at All" is based on a pulsating bass riff, and his intricate bass lines are to be heard quite distinctly throughout the album.
The presence of wind instruments (particularly Lol Coxhill's saxophone) is much stronger here than on the previous albums, reinforcing the record's more pronounced jazzy feel. Some passages of "Nothing at All", for instance, can remind listeners of Soft Machine rather than of Caravan's earlier output - which is no bad thing at all, though I understand it might be somewhat disappointing for those who had loved "If I Could Do.." or "In the Land...". Besides the jazzier numbers, however, there are the usual (for Caravan) catchier, poppier offerings, like the excellent "Aristocracy" and the closing "The World Is Yours"; while the Miller-penned "Songs and Signs" occupies a sort of middle ground between these two kinds of tracks. The album's second suite,Pye Hastings' "The Love in Your Eye", is more typically prog than the first, complete with string arrangements and great flute playing by brother Jimmy. The bonus tracks included in the remastered edition are all Pye Hastings compositions, all more than competent but, in my opinion, nothing to write home about.
After this album, Richard Sinclair left to form Hatfield and the North - unfortunately never to reach the success he would have amply deserved - and Pye Hastings became the leader of the band, which he remains to this day. This album shows quite clearly the transition between these two different periods, and like most transition albums it has its moments - though I can't really bring myself to consider it essential. A solid three stars, possibly three and a half.

Raffaella Berry

Caravan and the legs of Waterloo Lily ...
The follower of 'In the land of grey and pink' with Steve Miller (brother of Phil Miller) at the keyboards. He replaces David Sinclair and mainly plays (electric) piano which brings along a more jazzy direction. Remarkable is also the virtuoso Jazz Rock influenced bass playing by Richard Sinclair.
First of all I have to point out the two long tracks. They alone are worth the price, very impressing, full of variety and jamming. Nothing at all without any vocals has an eminent groove with a nice saxophon part. After 5 minutes the song fades into the interlude It's coming soon introduced by sensitive piano playing. The Love in your Eye is accompanied by some orchestral arrangements and was designated to be a classic for the following live performances of the band. Unforgettable is the terrific concert with the New Symphonia Orchestra two years later. But I don't want to be misunderstood. All the other songs are also to recommend. The title track for example is a very dynamic song, excellently arranged. Even Steve Miller's Songs and Signs isn't lacking though it is more popish.
'Waterloo Lily' is the last great studio effort of CARAVAN in my opinion. Check it out!

Uwe Zickel

Oh David, where did you go? David you ask...why David Sinclair is my all time favorite keyboard player and Caravan is in my top 5 favorite prog bands. Okay, out went my hero, in came an unknown. Steve Miller brings a heady amount of jazzy finger tapping on the keyboards and for me is a decent replacement. Will the songs suffer? Well actually no. The album starts with the title track and is one of my favorite comical/whimsy-style songs by the boys. Richard Sinclair's bass and bassy vocals make this track a winner, (on top of the hillarious lyrics) and half way through it jams very nicely. Coughlin drumming throughout the album is another standout, (man, he's SO underrated!). Things change dramatically with the second track, "Nothing At All" is a flat-out jazz tune going over 12 minutes. There's some lulls towards the center, but it's a decent change of pace. From there on we're back with ultra catchy Pye Hastings tunes that smack of classic Caravan. I mean, there's is NO ONE that plays these types of proggy/catchy/humorous tunes and play them as well. There are many Canterbury bands that try, but they can't match the sheer muscianship, lyrical and catchiness then Caravan. Pye's mega-soft vocals on "Songs & Signs" and "The World Is Yours" just goes right to your soul. Plus, there's a mini-epic in "The Love In Your Eyes". Unfortunately, the bonus track on the re-master is the worse out of all their re-masters. But it's not the album proper, so my rating is a super solid 4 stars for my favorite Canter band. Bravo guys, but bring back my David! (Yes, he does come back ;-)

Ray Rappisi jr

David Sinclair had left to form MATCHING MOLE with Robert Wyatt and Phil Miller. So enter Steve Miller (Phil's brother) from the Jazz / Rock band DELIVERY. Steve was Richard Sinclair's choice to replace his cousin David. One of the reasons he liked him was his Jazz influence, which is the direction that Richard wanted to go with the band's sound. So yes this record does sound different than their previous albums. In fact it's so different it took me ages to really appreciate it for what it was. I was always comparing it to "In The Land Of Grey & Pink" which wasn't fair.
"Waterloo Lily" features the usual great vocals from Richard Sinclair on this catchy and funny opening track. An organ solo is followed by a pastoral section 4 minutes in that builds back to a full sound. Vocals are back before 6 minutes. "Nothing At All / It's Coming Soon / Nothing At All (Reprise)" opens with a catchy melody that is dominated by some crazy guitar, which is replaced by the electric piano before the guitar comes back. Sax comes in as the song changes gears 5 1/2 minutes in to the next passage "It's All Coming Soon". It features electric piano, cymbals and bass. The song kicks in (Reprise) before 7 minutes with sax a minute later.
"Songs And Signs" has Pye Hastings on vocals with a light soundscape. There is a heavier interlude before the song reverts back to the lighter sound. "Aristocracy" is a catchy, uptempo tune with some good drumming. "The Love In Your Eye / To Catch Me A Brother / Subsultus / Debouchment / Tilbury Kecks" opens dramatically with orchestration and is quite catchy.Trumpet follows and a great flute solo from Jimmy Hastings. Later a long electric piano melody with vocals (Pye Hastings) coming in at 10 minutes. Then we get a jam to end it. "The World Is Yours" features vocals that grow from barely audible to full strength in this silly, charming love song.
Barely 4 stars but I think it's worth that rating. Richard Sinclair and Pye Hastings fought over this new direction the band had taken to the point that Richard and Steve both left before the next record. David Sinclair would return as would the old CARAVAN sound on "For Girls Who Grow Plump In The Night".

John Davie

Richard Coughlan and Richard Sinclair dominate the opening title track. The drum and bass thang continues as Nothing At All builds around one of those very straight forward bass riffs that you just can't help liking.
Songs and Signs moves out into the jazzy mellow keyboard realms. Not my favourite sound but always Pye Hastings' influence centres any wayward forces firmyl back in the Caravan park. Is it just me or is Aristocracy the best track Caravan ever wrote. Simply perfect. Pye's the rhythm guitar master, the Richards are a stight as the proverbial gnat's chuff. Coughlan is simply fantastic in this.
Now for the main event: The Love in Your Eye. Now this is an extended jazz number that usually gains the plaudits. Unfortunately it is my least favourite. Why? Well, there is too much fairly bland jamming. I hoped for more out of this. There is a change of direction towards the end which rescues the numebr; heavier guitar with a bit of wah. Strong beat, bass right up on the edge of the beat driving when it needs to be before subtly slipping back a nyum for a wee riff.
The World is Yours is another typically Caravan number. A great way to end the album. really positive and uplifting. Just like Porcupine Tree (yeah right).

Brian McKee

Feeling a bit disillusioned that their formidable "Grey and Pink" did not translate to the kind of commercial success they'd been hoping for, Caravan were in a bit of a funk as a working band. In August of 1971 Dave Sinclair left the group. He was convinced things were not to his liking and was interested in working with new musicians, finding company in Robert Wyatt and eventually Matching Mole. But the others were not ready to pack it in yet and invited Steve Miller to join the group. In late '71 they began the sessions for Waterloo Lily which would see the band alter their classic sound a bit to include a jazzier sound.
The opening title track is pure Caravan with great raunchy lyrics, catchy vocals and harmonies, and awesome playing. Pye and Richard have some great jamming here and they even let the new guy in a bit. The long "Nothing at All" is the track that brings the charges that this album is too different, too jazzy. I think the charge is a big silly. They really take only this one track to experiment a bit but the rest of the album sounds plenty like Caravan to me. "Nothing" starts out with a funky bass and beat, then Pye comes in with some nice licks through the volume pedal. A bit later Miller's piano joins in and the jam is on. True it's laid back jazz but it's well done. Then the middle section features a more subdued piano and bass section which slowly picks up steam again until the instrumental jam gets cookin. Great bass, some nice sax and guitar. "Songs and Signs" is one penned by the new guy Miller and features tasteful keys and the monster bass again, man I love the strong bass sound Sinclair gets throughout this thing. "Aristocracy" is a whimsical sounding pop song that could just as easily be placed on the preceding albums, classic Caravan all the way with a happy, bouncy beat. "The Love In Your Eye" is the longest and most ambitious track. Starting with comtemplative vocals and strings the track goes on to add oboe, trumpet, flute, and sax. The jamming gets quite intense with some killer performances by Hastings, Sinclair, and Coughlan. "The World is Yours" is a sweet pop love song throwaway, easily the least substantial track but nothing awful.
The Decca remaster series includes the usual nice band history as well as four bonus tracks, all previously unreleased. The first two were recorded by Hastings in June of '71 and are basically just demos. The latter two were recorded in November of that year and feature the full Caravan sound. "Looking Left, Looking Right" is actually a pretty cool song but was cut due to time limitations. More great cover art here especially when the front and back are folded flat so you can see the whole thing. While I agree it doesn't quite reach the peak of the previous album Waterloo is still a delightful spin. It's a bit more serious and perhaps mature in some ways. Some of this is actually a good thing but I do agree in places one can hear a hint of weariness-there were without a doubt some heavy frustrations within the group around this time. But it is no reason to pass on Waterloo if you are a Caravan fan. This is highly recommended to Canterbury and Caravan fans. I would only say that if you are new to Caravan start with the previous album.

Finnforest

01. Waterloo Lily Let's control ourselves already well! A good riff, a swinging without end, the very legal vocal one of Pye. almost a funk. Good refrain, and give him riffs strangers jazzy, with quite legal keyboards, a 'shy' ground of guitar and Richard Coughlan had beaten it breaking everything (excellent drummer!). A long part intrumental seizure counts, being the great distinction absluto goes for Richard Sinclair and his bass. In the second refrain the doubled vocal ones are a charm.
02. Nothing At All/It's Coming Soon/Nothing At All (Reshowing) Insignia when of Richard Wright (Pink Floyd) was keyed totally, gross and very quite tipsy bass, a ground of guitar wha-wha, that is exatamente what we find in the opening with Nothing At All, next another guitar (Phil Miller (in a different, insignia another is swung by me without end with space for great improvisation. To complement still more saxophones. Nothing The It Seems begins in a beautiful piano night club / prison / solitude. I was not wrong to any more jazz of the disc. But soon more swing, be-bop, them expensive are great soul. After great swinging, still more with the turn of Nothing At All (Reshowing).
03. Songs And Signs Pop! This is pop, that is that pop should be! Pop Perfeito! Vocal in falsetto, grand and pretty melody. Base of guitar, very legal, without stopping having the instrumental 'travels' of the band.
04. Aristocracy One more swinging pop and very quite tipsy, I do not know exatamente to what it is similar, but and sensationally, he makes want to hear again and again. While he was hearing only I thought that some palms were lacking in the bottom of the song, it would be very legal. Guitar wha and ground of had slammed to end in great style (And what is you. Coughlan in the battery? Brilliant!).
05. The Love In Your Eye/To Catch Me To Brother/Subsultus/Debouchement/Tilbury Kecks Begin already symphonic and lovely! The arrangements of orchestra of Colin Frechter were very good, suddenly change everything, grand melody and a new sensational song enters in the head. I still did not discover well if a guitar is doing the ground . .. oh it is a guitar yes, I heard a slide (laughters). The flute gives a touch Jethro Tull to you it Catch Me To Brother and the band enters in great style, virtuous and bass everything it more. Subsultus has more 'aggressive grounds of guitar and different melody, the beds of keyboard of Steve Miller are always very well arranged. The Caravan is a band introsada! Excellent in fact. Debouchement gives a touch to more with letter and pretty melodies (the voice of Pye is very sweet and pretty). And soon puzzle again with Tilbury Kecks! Without equal!
06. The World Is Yours To finish a disc have that to do to him a good choice, and in case of the Caravan to end Waterloo Lily swims better which The World Is Your, without equal with a footprint interessantíssima, a guitar 'clean' very quite tipsy, a vocal very quite sung one (that is to rain in the wet one!) and an enchanting refrain. Oh as I wanted that Pop as we know it today was so!

Diego Camargo

It's rather common for a Prog band that after their most acclaimed opus, in this case In the Land of Grey and Pink, one of the 'key' members leaves the band thus leaving the band no option than to replace him by someone who generally is pretty different to the former member, and as a result making either a weaker, but essentially a different kind of record to what the band is known-of doing. Conclusion, fans consider it either a weak attempt of re-making their grandiose opus or simply just say it's a weak record per se because they don't like the addition of the replacement.
Well, that's the case of Waterloo Lily, however for me it's neither a weaker copy of their previous effort nor I have any issues with the addition of the replacement, quite the contrary. The main issue that fans of their previous albums have with this album is the addition of Dave Sinclair's replacement, Steve Miller, who adds to the band a very jazzy feel overall.
However, I can't deny another obvious factor that also leads to dissapointment, and this one I can understand. This is the lack of Richard's distinctive voice, which was by all means 'the voice' of Caravan. So, yes, in Waterloo Lily the vocal department is not exactly the 'Caravan vocal department', but I've learnt to deal with it.
While I absolutely love In the Land of Grey and Pink and think it's a superior album to this one, I can't say I'm no big fan of this album as well, and that's all thanks to Steve Miller's splendid addition of great jazzy bites all within the album. He may be no Dave Sinclair, but neither Patrick Moraz was Rick Wakeman and yet he rocked the hell out with Relayer and added to the band something that hadn't be heard with previous efforts.
Anyways, this is not a jazz rock affair as a whole, just get rid of In the Land of Grey and Pink's happinness and sophistication and add a rockier, groovier and a more loose feel to it. Songs like 'The World is Yours', 'Aristocracy' and 'Songs and Signs' still sound very much like the ol' Caravan. However it's the longer tunes that make the difference; 'Nothing At All' being a very cool jazzy jam showing the whole new line-up at full steam in the instrumental side of things, while 'The Love in your Eye' is a more sophisticated tune with string arrangements and plenty of brass instruments too.
So overall Waterloo Lily is a different, yet excellent treat by this new, not-that-different, incarnation from Caravan. Anyone who is fond of jazzy-inclined good music, I highly recommend you this. If you're a big fan of In the Land of Grey and Pink but you are not that fond of jazzy stuff, then check If I Could Do It All Over Again, I Would Do It All Over You first.

The Quiet One

Different album from early Caravan. This release perfectly illustrates how important David Sinclair was for band's sound. Left for Matching Mole, he was replaced by keyboardist Steve Miller on this album, and sound changed quite significantly.
I know many classic Caravan purists don't like this album too much, and I perfectly understand why: instead of brilliant melodic mix of folk,pop,rock and light psichedelia of previous albums, this album presents very jazzy sound. In fact, it's psychedelic jazz-rock, much closer sound to all other Canterbury scene bands, as Soft Machine or Egg.
For me, such changes are for good only - with all my respect and even love to Caravan's catchy songwriting, main problem for me with their music always was too big amount of pop-folk in their sound. This album changed the situation, and it showed another attractive band's side. To be honest, Steve Miller isn't great jazz fusion keyboardist, his sound is usually heavily rooted in blues-rock and early bluesy jazz rock. So his musical addition isn't of the same level as jazz rock of more jazz-rooted competitors (any of Soft Machine, Gong,Egg, Hatfield and The North are better in their jazzy side). But Miller's great role is he really showed how interesting could be Caravan's sound them being more jazzy.
In all, this album is not better or worst of Caravan's albums before or right after it-it's just different. I like these changes, and I think "Waterloo Lily" is one between best Caravan releases.